Deep bias against muslims in terror probes: Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui

“All that I wished was an apology from the state government that arrested and maligned me without any proof."

NEW DELHI: Muthi-ur-Rehman Siddiqui, the Karnataka-based journalist absolved of terror charges after six months in jail, blames BJP government in Karnataka and Congress-ruled Maharashtra and Andhra for having a deep bias towards Muslims in terror probes. "It is a pan-party problem," he says. On a day the home ministry told Parliament the government was "positively inclined" to consider rehabilitation of innocent victims cleared of terror charges, so that they can be "reintegrated" into society, a bitter Siddiqui told EThe was not interested in seeking compensation or rehabilitation from the government for his six-month ordeal.

"All that I wished was an apology from the state government that arrested and maligned me without any proof. However, nearly 10 days after I was released, there has not been a word of regret or remorse on the part of the state government or the state police."

Wajahat Habibullah, the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities, told ET that the commission had taken note of Siddiqui's case and plans to intervene in the matter.

Saying he would find a job in journalism soon, Siddiqui said nothing could compensate him in monetary terms for the agony he went through. "The only solace is that I was released after six months in jail while Muslim youth arrested wrongly for the 2006 Malegaon blasts wasted six years in jail," he says. Siddiqui said his was not the first case when state agencies have been misled in terror probes and implicated innocent Muslim youth to 'solve' cases. The Maharashtra ATS is accused of arresting and charging nine Muslim youth for the 2006 Malegaon blasts while the Andhra police arrested 21 for 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts. All these 30 youth were released on bail after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over these cases and found the involvement of right-wing elements.

After the Hyderabad blasts last month, the Andhra Police was quick to question the youth released in the Mecca Masjid case. "It is not the BJP government in Karnataka alone which has an institutional bias against Muslims in terror cases...the Congress governments and police forces in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have the same deep-rooted bias against Muslims in terror investigations. It is a pan-party problem." Siddiqui was arrested last August by the Karnataka Police for being the "mastermind" of a 15-member LeT that allegedly planned to assassinate rightwing leaders and certain journalists in Karnataka and Hyderabad.

The Karnataka Police accused Siddiqui, then a journalist with the Deccan Herald newspaper, of providing information about certain journalists to the co-accused in the case to help in the assassination plot. When it took over the case in November, NIA found no proof against Siddiqui. "If I were not a Muslim, I would never have been arrested in the present case ," Siddiqui said. Last month, NIA filed a chargesheet in the case against 12 of the 15 arrested persons, but did not name Siddiqui and one of his roommates, Yusuf Nalband, saying it had found no prosecutable evidence against them. A third person who worked with DRDO, Ahmed Mirza, was also released on bail after NIA did not chargesheet him but said further probe was on.